1. Related Invetions
The present invention is related to the following co-pending applications:
(a) Stride Evaluation System, Ser. No. 06/831,978, and PA2 (b) Improved Reaction Time and Force Feedback System, Ser. No. 06/831,979 filed concurrently with this invention.
2. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of sports and, more particularly, to a device attached to sporting protective gear, such as helmets, for indicating accumulated force.
3. Discussion of the Prior Art
The incidents of injuries to primarily high school sports, most especially football, is significant, costly, and harmful to the participant. As a result, equipment, such as football equipment, has been the subject of improvements and has been increasingly used to provide more protection. Unfortunately, head, neck and back injuries are still quite common causing many of the equipment manufacturers to go out of business because of litigation costs and lack of suitable insurance. See "Escalating, Costs Linked to Suits Over Football Injuries", Rocky Mountain News, June 27, 1985.
The present invention is not related to improving the actual physical equipment to provide greater protection, but rather sets forth a device for attaching to existing football helmets to more properly control the amount of accumulated force sustained by sport participants over a period of time. It is well known that the human body is more capable of becoming harmed through a series of forces applied quickly over time compared to the same series of forces applied more slowly over time. In other words, the human body recovers and is capable of sustaining more forces when the suitable recovery time is allowed.
The present invention, therefore, senses and indicates accumulated force and if the accumulated force exceeds a predetermined limit, produces an indication for an alarm. However, if no additional forces are created in the future, the device of the present invention decrements, periodically, the accumulated force. A high school football coach, for example, can easily view the indications of the present invention and sensibly use his players in a fashion whereby the accumulated sustained force is always below the predetermined level.
In the priorly issued patent entitled "Reaction Time and Applied Force Feedback", U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,557, issued on Aug. 13, 1985 to the present inventor, a reaction time and applied force feedback system for sports was disclosed wherein force sensitive sensors were placed on or in the physical sporting equipment. Such a system is useful for sensing forces in punching bags, footballs, blocking tackles, and martial arts kicking posts.
The present invention provides a force accumulating device attached to a sporting helmet for indicating accumulated force encountered by a sport participant using the helmet.
Prior to the filing of this application, the inventor conducted a patentability investigation for a system that feedbacks reaction time and applied force and which can be worn by the sporting participant. The following patents in addition to the above stated patent were uncovered in the search:
______________________________________ Inventor Reg. No. Date ______________________________________ Bon 4,029,315 6-14-77 Tateishi 4,277,828 7-7-81 Jimenez et al 4,367,752 1-11-83 Sidorenko et al 4,394,865 7-26-83 Sidorenko et al 4,409,992 10-18-83 ______________________________________
The second patent issued to Sidorenko et al (U.S. Pat. No. 4,409,992) pertains to an electronic ergometer which is placed in the portable housing attached to the waist of a user. The disclosed ergometer converts the oscillations of the body center of gravity into a suitable electrical signal which is then processed. The disclosed ergometer is capable of measuring and registering the work performed by the user and for producing an audible and a visual signal indicating exhaustion of the body's reserve when a predetermined threshold of activity is achieved. The disclosed device provides for constant monitoring of the work performed by the user and is capable of measuring the power developed while walking, running, or jogging. The first Sidorenko et al. patent (U.S. Pat. 4,394,865), sets forth an apparatus for determining levels of physical loads also based upon the body center of gravity amplitude of oscillations created by a user. If the amplitude of movements of the user exceeds a certain minimum level, then one indicator is activated. If the amplitude of movements is above a certain optimum level, a second indicator is activated and if the movement is above a maximum level of physical load, a third indicator is activated.
In the 1983 patent issued to Jimenez et al (U.S. Pat. 4,367,752) is disclosed a system capable of measuring various parameters such as heart rate and the occurrence of stepping to arrive at a system which is capable of determining the physiological parameters of a runner or jogger.
The 1981 patent issued to Tateishi (U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,828) pertains to an analyzer for determining resulting forces at bone joints. The system is based upon geometric patterns derived from X-ray pictures. The 1977 patent issued to Bon (U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,315) sets forth a target generator for a thrown football in order to measure certain speed parameters.
None of the above approaches disclose an approach for determining accumulating the forces encountered by a helmet, indicating when a predetermined value of accumulated force is exceeded, and for decrementing the accumulated force over a period of time when the helmet is not in use.